Tourism officials are a glass-half-full bunch. It’s a job requirement, necessary since they must relentlessly promote a city, region, state or even a country no matter what the economic climate or general traveler mood might be.

Politicians – in general – try not to attack members of their own party. The same holds true in the tourism world, with internal battles to lure visitors from one part of Tennessee to another set aside in an effort to lift everyone’s ticket totals, room bookings, food sales and general revenue.

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EVENTS

Young Professionals CONNECT. Young Professionals CONNECT on Thursday at Westhaven Golf Club, 4000 Golf Club Drive. Mix and mingle in the Westhaven Golf Academy, just below the clubhouse while enjoying live music. There will be a chipping demonstration at 6 p.m. and a longest drive demonstration at 6:45 p.m. with a longest drive competition happening in the training bay. Free, but registration is needed. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Information

Will it be trains, planes or automobiles? If you ask state Rep. William Lamberth, Davidson County voters gave a resounding answer on the future of mass transit in this region. Based on their overwhelming defeat of an early May referendum, they don’t want to raise taxes for mass transit, preferring to be more like Atlanta and Los Angeles and less like New York.

“Someone has grabbed a handbrake and jerked it backward quickly,” say one Nashville-based senior loan officer of the current residential real estate market. A group of top-producing Realtors opted for the “turning off the water hydrant” metaphor.

The Nashville chapter of The Entrepreneurs’ Organization recently added 15 members to its group of Middle Tennessee business owners, retaining its standing as the largest EO chapter in the United States and the third largest in the world, behind only Tokyo and Mumbai.

One of the most price-effective and time-tested ways to go off the beaten path in a motorized vehicle is to buy a used SUV or pickup and modify it with aftermarket parts to enhance its performance. Well, there’s also something to be said for getting a new vehicle straight from the dealer showroom that’s ready to play in the dirt. And more than ever before, automakers are offering vehicles with those off-road modifications already installed for you.

Listen up. Pay attention. Eyes forward, ears open. You’ve heard those things before in your life, and now you say them to yourself, your kids, and your employees. But do they hear what you say now… or, as in the new book “Note to Self,” collected and introduced by Gayle King, will your words ring back in the future?

HENDERSONVILLE (AP) — The leading Republican candidates for Tennessee governor tried not to second-guess President Donald Trump during a debate Wednesday night, including pledging support for his administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Much of the rye whiskey aging in hundreds of barrels at Catoctin Creek Distillery in Virginia could end up being consumed in Europe, a market the 9-year-old distilling company has cultivated at considerable cost.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Thursday that the grouping has targeted some iconic American imports like Harley-Davidson motorcycles and bourbon for tariffs in hopes that it will "make noise" and put pressure on U.S. leaders amid a trade dispute.

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — Eurozone nations were confident Thursday that they could agree on the final elements of a plan to get Greece out of its eight-year bailout program and make its massive debt burden manageable.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Thursday accused the United States of using bullying tactics and blackmail in threatening to impose tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese imports, ramping up criticism that the measures levied in the name of balancing trade would harm both countries' companies and the world economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pointing to damage done to home-state companies, lawmakers from both parties Wednesday criticized tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on imported steel and aluminum products in the name of national security.

Mail-order weed? You betcha! With marijuana legalization across Canada on the horizon, the industry is shaping up to look different from the way it does in nine U.S. states that have legalized adult recreational use of the drug. Age limits, government involvement in distribution and sales, and access to banking are some big discrepancies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is planning to propose merging the education and labor departments as part of a broader overhaul to be announced on Thursday that would make good on President Donald Trump's pledges to streamline the federal government.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hours before House showdown votes on immigration, President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that any measure the chamber passes would be doomed in the Senate anyway. His comments could weaken Republicans' already uphill drive to pass legislation on an issue that's become politically fraught amid heart-rending images of migrant families being separated at the border.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans feel U.S. relations have a better chance at improving in the year ahead with traditionally hostile nations such as North Korea and Russia than they do with allies such as Britain and Canada, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A majority of Americans now approve of President Donald Trump's handling of U.S. relations with North Korea, a change that comes after his historic summit with that country's leader, Kim Jong Un. But most don't believe Kim is serious about addressing the international concerns about his country's nuclear weapons program.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a crisis of migrant children separated from their families provoked national outrage, President Donald Trump said he was powerless to act through an executive order. Five days later, he did just that.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The two leading Democrats in Tennessee's open governor's race tussled during a debate Tuesday over charter schools, the National Rifle Association and one candidate's use of federal flood money to build a downtown Nashville amphitheater.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Acting Director Jason Locke is being placed on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that he misused state funds, officials said Tuesday.

NASHVILLE (AP) — A group of protesters who had been preparing to light a fire outside of the state War Memorial Building in Nashville have been charged during the final week of the Poor People's Campaign.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Wednesday as investors bet that technology companies and small, domestically-focused firms will continue to do well even if the trade dispute between the U.S. and China gets worse. Media companies jumped after Disney reached a new deal with Twenty-First Century Fox.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pointing to damage done to home-state companies, lawmakers from both parties Wednesday criticized tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on imported steel and aluminum products in the name of national security.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union will start taxing a range of U.S. imports Friday, including quintessentially American goods like Harley-Davidson bikes and cranberries, in response to President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs on European steel and aluminum.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Federal Reserve will likely keep raising short-term interest rates at only a gradual pace, Fed chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday, partly because there are few signs, so far, that the ultra-low U.S. unemployment rate is pushing up inflation.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A leading South Korean cryptocurrency exchange said Wednesday that $31 million worth of virtual currencies have been stolen by hackers, a latest in the series of recent hacks that raised security concerns.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bowing to pressure from anxious allies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday ending the process of separating children from families after they are detained crossing the U.S. border illegally.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is drafting an executive action for President Donald Trump that would direct her department to keep families together in detention after they are detained crossing the border illegally, according to two people familiar with her thinking. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the effort before its official announcement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 600 members of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' church are denouncing him over the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy that has led to children being separated from their parents at the border.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump told House Republicans he is "1,000 percent" behind their rival immigration bills, providing little clear direction for party leaders searching for a way to defuse the escalating controversy over family separations at the southern border.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Calling the shots as his West Wing clears out, President Donald Trump sees his hard-line immigration stance as a winning issue heading into a midterm election he views as a referendum on his protectionist policies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross made a trade betting that the stock in a shipping company with Russian-government ties would fall, a transaction coming just days after he learned of a possible negative news story about his investment in the company.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton says North Korea is facing a "decisive and dramatic choice" on whether to give up its nuclear program and ballistic missiles.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is leaving the United Nations' Human Rights Council, which Ambassador Nikki Haley called "an organization that is not worthy of its name." It's the latest withdrawal by the Trump administration from an international institution.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel took aim Tuesday at U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris accord, calling the move "very regrettable" at a time when the overwhelming majority of countries worldwide are trying to limit global warming.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and China edged closer Tuesday to triggering the riskiest trade war in decades, a fight that could weaken the world's two largest economies, unsettle relations between Beijing and Washington and crimp global growth.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Calls are mounting on Capitol Hill for the Trump administration to end the separation of families at the southern border ahead of a visit from President Donald Trump to discuss legislation.

Wrenching scenes of migrant children being separated from their parents at the southern border are roiling campaigns ahead of midterm elections, emboldening Democrats on the often-fraught issue of immigration while forcing an increasing number of Republicans to break from President Donald Trump on an issue important to the GOP's most ardent supporters.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is resolving partisan redistricting cases from Wisconsin and Maryland without ruling on the broader issue of whether electoral maps can give an unfair advantage to a political party.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway's transportation minister and the head of the Scandinavian country's airport operator took off Monday for a short flight ... aboard a Slovenian-made two-seater electric airplane.

DETROIT (AP) — Every workday, about 7,400 trucks mostly loaded with automotive parts rumble across the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit and Canada, at times snarling traffic along the busy corridor.

GENEVA (AP) — For video game addicts, it might soon be "game over." In its latest revision to a disease classification manual, the World Health Organization said Monday that compulsively playing video games now qualifies as a new mental health condition.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks shrugged off early losses and wound up with a mixed finish Monday. Household goods companies took some of the worst losses as the S&P 500 index fell for the third time in four days.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Trade liberalization continues to have global momentum despite recent U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the European trade commissioner said Monday as she launched free trade negotiations between the European Union and Australia.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The combined powers of superheroes, the Pixar brand and a drought of family-friendly films helped "Incredibles 2" become the best animated opening of all time, the biggest PG-rated launch ever and the 8th highest film launch overall.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is set to pass a defense policy bill that includes a pay raise for the military, but would block a White House plan to allow Chinese telecom giant ZTE to buy component parts from the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of children split from their families at the U.S. southern border are being held in government-run facilities. A look at how we got here, what's real and what's not, and what might happen next.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a rising tide of outrage from Democrats and some Republicans over the forced separation of migrant children and parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Donald Trump dug in Monday, again falsely blaming Democrats in the escalating political crisis.

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump "hates" to see families separated at the border and hopes "both sides of the aisle" can reform the nation's immigration laws, according to a statement from her office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is exaggerating the achievements of his Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, claiming the North has destroyed missile launch sites and no longer has "rockets flying over the place."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Sunday the president might pardon his jailed, onetime campaign chairman and others ensnared in the Russia investigation once special counsel Robert Mueller's work wraps up, if he believed they were treated "unfairly."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller is examining a previously undisclosed meeting between longtime Donald Trump confidante Roger Stone and a Russian figure who allegedly tried to sell him dirt on Hillary Clinton.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The hundreds of artists appearing at the CMA Fest this past weekend weren't the only ones trying to court new fans. Streaming music providers had a larger presence at this year's festival, hoping to convert country music fans, who have been slower to adopt streaming compared with other genres.

MEMPHIS (AP) — D.J. Fontana, a rock 'n' roll pioneer who rose from strip joints in his native Shreveport, Louisiana to the heights of musical history as Elvis Presley's first and longtime drummer, has died at 87, his wife said Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors have indicted Elizabeth Holmes on criminal fraud charges for allegedly defrauding investors, doctors and patients as the head of the once-heralded blood-testing startup Theranos.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Attorneys are debating whether a Tennessee woman serving a life sentence for killing a man when she was 16 can gain parole. They're arguing before federal appellate judges in Cincinnati who are considering sending the case back to Tennessee.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York's attorney general sued President Donald Trump and his foundation Thursday, accusing him of illegally using the charity's money to settle disputes involving his business empire and to boost his political fortunes during his run for the White House.

BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors say that automaker Volkswagen as a whole is responsible for the 2015 diesel emissions cheating scandal, a day after the company said it would accept a one-billion euro fine (1.18 billion dollars).

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks closed out a whirlwind week with a modest loss Friday as markets gauged how much to fret about the Trump administration's decision to step up the trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump brought the world's two biggest economies to the brink of a trade war Friday by announcing a 25 percent tariff on up to $50 billion in Chinese imports to take effect July 6.

WASHINGTON (AP) — AT&T has completed its $81 billion takeover of Time Warner, one of the biggest media deals ever. A federal judge approved the combination just two days earlier over objections by the Trump Justice Department that it would hurt consumers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has set limits aimed at addressing one of the leading causes of the 2008 financial crisis — the buildup of loans extended by one bank to another among the biggest Wall Street institutions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund believes the U.S. economy will post solid growth this year and next, helped by a sizable boost from tax cuts. But then it says growth will slide as huge budget deficits drag growth far below the Trump administration's goals.

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Two of the globe's most powerful central banks are gradually withdrawing the easy money policies that helped repair the damage wrought by the Great Recession and push stock markets to record highs. It's a sign of confidence in the economy, but with uncertain consequences for consumers and businesses.

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The European Central Bank has decided to phase out the bond-buying stimulus program credited with helping the 19 countries that use the euro recover from the Great Recession and eurozone debt crisis.

BEIJING (AP) — China's government renewed its threat Thursday to scrap deals with Washington aimed at defusing a sprawling trade dispute as the White House prepared to release a list of Chinese goods targeted for tariff hikes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A company run by former officials at Cambridge Analytica, the political consulting firm brought down by a scandal over how it obtained Facebook users' private data, has quietly been working for President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election effort, The Associated Press has learned.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ignited eleventh-hour confusion Friday over Republican efforts to push immigration through the House next week, saying he won't sign a "moderate" package. A top House Republican said the chamber would not tackle the issue without Trump's backing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a stinging report, the Justice Department watchdog said Thursday that former FBI Director James Comey was "insubordinate" in his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation during the 2016 presidential election. But it also concluded there was no evidence that Comey was motivated by political bias.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey says he disagrees with some of the conclusions of the Justice Department's inspector general about his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Steve King is a Republican congressman from Iowa who's a hard-liner on immigration with a penchant for making racially charged comments. Now he's facing heat for sharing a Twitter post by a Nazi sympathizer from Britain.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department's internal watchdog is expected to criticize the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, stepping into a political minefield while examining how a nonpartisan law enforcement agency came to be entangled in the 2016 presidential race.

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